Métaphore/Métamorphose is a site-specific installation, collaborative project, and travelling exhibition that enlists artists to engage with the transformative power of metaphor. The artworks, both individually and collectively, use metaphor to reflect on pressing contemporary issues—our global environmental crisis, economic and social upheaval, spiritual alienation—at a moment when the cracks in our pandemic-stricken world are on stark display, and people and the planet are crying out for change.
The twenty-three participating artists were invited to use the slow medium of print to create new metaphors for survival. Drawing inspiration from 6th-century Japanese Emaki handscrolls, which were a historical forerunner to printmaking and vehicle for storytelling. The artworks represent different narratives of metamorphosis that encourage a deeper engagement with our cultural moment through the prism of metaphor.
The project consists of works created on various lengths of Baika (Shoji natural paper) in any print medium, using a limited colour palette of red, grey, and black. The installation is assembled for exhibition by pinning the works of all the twenty-three artists end to end. Splicing together individual artworks in this manner creates an immersive, wallpaper-like effect that invites people to hold diverse perspectives at once and embrace the transformative potential of analogy and multiplicity.
Built into the very premise of the show is the idea that the installation can expand and evolve—metamorphose—with each new exhibition location. In its current iteration, the exhibition comprises individual scrolls that roll up into portable editions of seven; however, based on future site-specific conditions, there is a possibility to invite additional printmakers to contribute, thereby extending the installation’s potential for new meanings and impact.
Métaphore/Métamorphose was initiated and curated by Louise Bloom under the auspices of the Atelier de l’île.
Participating artists
Marie-Claude Arnaud, Paul Ballard, Jocelyn-Aird Bélanger, Marie-France Bertrand, Louise Bloom, Marie-Laurence Blouin, Michelle Campeau, Claudette Domingue, Caroline Gagnon, Suzanne Jean, Marie-Josée Lebel, Louise Ladouceur, Germain Locas, Olga Magnano, Rory Mahoney, Normand Ménard, Iris Nowa, Ginette Piché, Odette Pinard, Adeline Rognon, Cristine Rolland, Jessica Thibault, Elizabeth Whalley.
Louise Bloom (born Montreal, Canada), is an artist, educator, writer, and curator, living and working in Morin Heights and Val-David, Quebec. She has exhibited for over 30 years in Canada, the US, and Europe. She is the recent past president of Atelier de l’île, Val-David, QC and has served many terms on the Atelier’s Board of Directors. Recently, she curated the collaborative print media project Métaphore/Métamorphose as part of Traverse: L’Estampe en Art actuel (Val-David, August 2019). Louise Bloom works in and teaches print media practices.
Atelier de l’île is an artist-run centre that supports research, creation, and production in print-based art, providing professional artists of all disciplines with the specialized equipment, resources and expertise needed to develop their art practice. It promotes innovative approaches that contribute to the evolution of the discipline. It seeks to consider the place of print-based practices in contemporary art and its modes of production. Atelier de l’île is supported by the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec and by the municipality of Val-David, QC.